


The eye of the storm

by LullabyOfHell



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-28
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2018-01-26 22:38:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1705103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LullabyOfHell/pseuds/LullabyOfHell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Are you really asking me that?" She says, laughing and blushing slightly. That was so cliché. The usual 'Hey, since you're never been kissed, we could...' that nervous boys and girls asked to their crushes. Foxface closes her eyes, wishing that they could be nervous and careless as if danger was far away. 'Since we're going to die tomorrow...'</p>
            </blockquote>





	The eye of the storm

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic in AO3, yay! Also the first I make about The hunger games. I know the pairing is completely crack, but I read a fanfic about them here ("Devil in disguise" by trickster) and it inspired me to write this. Hope you'll enjoy it.

What's Glimmer?

Glimmer is the District 1 female tribute of the 74th Hunger Games.

Glimmer is blond, and tall, and slender.

Glimmer is a fragment of her imagination when she catches herself thinking about her more than she should.

Glimmer is a public image, constructed carefully like a puzzle, one that is supposed to ensure her survival. Her imperfections are erased and polished, her charms exalted, and she is like a moving statue, something beautiful and impossibly alive. A figure, a symbol that talks about beauty, seduction, temptation, scandal and power, something that belongs to a public that makes what she wants of her.

But above all, Glimmer is a winner. Or so she thinks herself to be, because she hasn't won yet.

In fact, Foxface thinks, maybe she already lost.

Foxface can be a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them. If the Capitol -The eccentric, excessive, greedy and lustful Capitol- sees her rise victorious, they will make her do whatever they want and then some. She will be no better than a doll, a statue, just like the impression she wanted to sell to everyone.

During the interviews, Foxface gazes at her for a moment, eyes narrowing and analyzing everything, and can't suppress a smile.

Doesn't she see what awaits her, even If she wins? She will lose herself both ways If she goes on like this. Maybe she doesn't have wits, or strength, and that's why she opted for the beauty route, the easy route, the one you only have to be born with and apply some make-up to use.

But then, why did she volunteer? Could she really be so naïve as to think that she will win just smiling for the camera?

What is Glimmer, again?

A fool, maybe. And someone who is answering some sugary question about her home right now, before a drooling public that will cherish every word she mutters seductively and devour it like hungry wolves, even If it's complete and utter trash.

 _Please_ , Foxface thinks every time Glimmer swirls her skirts or leans forward, showing her thighs or cleavage excessively, _I've seen actual whores act with more discretion than you_.

This isn't the proper way to win, nor to go with dignity. It's better to be silent. Just like her.

She shouldn't give much thought to the faults in the strategy of the girl of district 1, Foxface scolds herself. It's none of her business. In fact, the worse her strategy is, the better for herself and easier the win. But something about that girl gets Foxface on her nerves, and she knows what it is: her "naive and sexy girl" act smells a little foul to her. She's sure she has something in mind already, maybe something entirely different from the image she's projecting. Will she pretend to seduce some tributes to lure them to their deaths? Hm, seems likely. After all, who doesn't love a good femme fatale? The Capitol folk sure do, considering how they adore Finnick Odair so blindly. And it would be easy for Glimmer to become the new toy of the Capitol, to shine and smile and nod, bending as people wants her to bend and pretending to like it all the way.

Poor little Glimmer, destined to live as the beautiful lie that will ensure her survival. If it works, of course. _Something that I have to make sure doesn't happen_ Foxface thinks. Lure her to the wrong tribute. Make her go for Thresh, or Katniss. One wrong move, and she would be out. One wrong move, and all the glossy blond hair, reddish lips and green eyes would be ashes under her feet.

But what if her plan turns out wrong? What If she, somehow, manages to bend them to her will, even with something as petty as beauty? People and desires can be treacherous sometimes, and more than one would do a crazy thing or two to be able to have Glimmer's pretty face between their hands - or their legs, for that matter. And it's not like she can entirely blame them.

After all, the girl is _really_ gorgeous.

But neither Thresh nor Katniss look like people easy to charm. Clove definitely, Cato perhaps, and Marvel looks at her like a sister instead of a lover, but who said all persuasion had to go in _that_ kind of way?

Wait, her stupid lipstick. And the cut of her dress, and the way her bra pushed her breasts into the fakest shape Foxface has ever seen. Also, her mentor, probably.

But what the fuck did Glimmer herself say about all that?

***

The interviews are over, and Foxface is pleased with how they went. She seemed nice, but her insipid answers made her another common tribute, nothing to fret over. Specially after the ones from Clove, Cato, Glimmer and Peeta. The boy from 12 practically dropped a bomb, something for which she is grateful. If she learned something during all her life in district 5, is that it's better to go unnoticed as long as you can.

After all, in this game there are no allies, despite what the careers might think. They usually don't think about themselves like that, and she knows this. But for a while they trust each other, until someone starts to play for real and all comes crashing down. When she was young (younger than now, she means), she liked to play "guess who will break the pack first" with her little brother, and she almost always won. Almost.

Of course, that was when he was still alive. Foxface glares at her nails with sudden interest at that thought, despite being in her room and not having the need to act. Despite everything, she needs to fool herself. It seems to be easier to do when you are about to have death hot on your heels in the arena, because this way everything seems to matter less.

"Toc toc!" Someone says, knocking - no, more like banging at her door. The voice and the giddy giggles already tell her volumes about who it is and how she is. She goes to the door and tries to force herself to smile gently before opening it.

"Hello, Glimmer. Do you need anything?" She says politely. It's not like her company would be entirely unwelcome, but she prefers to be alone. Everything will be easier this way.

The other girl lets out an eccentric laugh, almost like a gurgle. She seems to have washed her face, and her golden dress has been changed for a pair of short denims, almost covered by an oversized black t-shirt. Gods, If the public saw her now. She's a far cry from the girl at stage, all perfection and Greek Goddess levels of beauty. Now she's pretty anyway, but that's not the thing that stands out most about her. It's the stench of alcohol coming from her breath.

_Now she goes and gets drunk? Really, Glimmer? Really?_

"You don't talk like you're going to kill me tomorrow" Glimmer lets out, looking... Softly? At her.

_Oh, girl, you have no idea._

A moment ago, she was just plotting her demise.

"You didn't answer my question."

Glimmer sighs dramatically.

"Look, I feel a little dizzy. I could faint any second now. Please, could you let me in?" She asks, looking at her with really sorry, sad eyes. My god, what a clown she could be, all exaggerated acting.

Despite everything, Foxface does let her in.

A charming clown, she is.

It's not like it's dangerous anyway - Not yet, at least. Killing someone outside the arena is illegal, and Foxface knows that surely there are cameras on the hallways. People would know that Glimmer went to her room.

The girl doesn't waste a second in making herself comfortable, even when, mind you, this is Foxface's room. She throws herself unceremoniously on her bed, wrinkling the blue sheets and leaving them in complete disarray. Foxface's smile twitches, and she has to repress a glare directed at Glimmer.

"Did you drink something? You smell like you did."

"Yes. And I brought a surprise!" Glimmer says, lifting her t-shirt and grabbing a hip flask from the belt of her denims. She tries to throw it at Foxface, but the girl approaches to her before she has any opportunity to cause a bigger mess. Judging from her movements, Glimmer would have failed and probably hit the lamp.

"Thank you." Foxface says, snatching the hip flask from Glimmer's hands. Its design is simple, silver metal with the words "Drink Like A Lady" engraved in it. An advice Glimmer doesn't seem to have followed. She opens the flask and sniffs: she's not an expert on drinks, but it smells like something strong.

"What's this? And where did you get it from?" She asks. Glimmer just laughs again, a hollow sound devoid of emotion, while she tries to rearrange her messy hair out of her face.

"Don't you know? Come on, what are you, sixteen?"

"Fifteen, actually." Foxface says, her voice firm. She hates it when people treat her like an ignorant. _A moment ago, I was plotting your demise. And I may as well succeed in it. But nonetheless, here you are, believing yourself to be oh so smart and acting all condescending just because you know a type of alcohol_.

"Oh... Well, whatever. It's rum. We the careers are having a little party at Cato's room and I got it from there." Her cocky smile shows again, the same as the one she made at the training center. "Do you wanna try it?"

"Well" She answers, a little too freely. Shit, she shouldn't have said that. What if it contains some kind of drug, something to decrease her abilities? Foxface sniffs the liquid again, this time more thoroughly. She can't tell. Crap, she really can't tell, what If it is?

In front of her, in her bed, Glimmer looks at her amused, weight resting in one elbow and head bent towards her shoulder, her tangled hair falling freely down her arm. She looks so casual, so comfortable that the worry on Foxface's face seems complete alien to her. Maybe all the caution on Foxface's gestures is funny to her, or maybe it's something darker - If it really has something to incapacitate her, she could be amused because some plan to erase her from the map is working.

"Oh, come on!" She encourages, voice straining with impatience "How can this make you so afraid? God, you're such a bore. It's not like it will knock you out the moment you drink it. Look." She makes a gesture of approach with her fingers, and Foxface handles her the bottle. Not more than a second has passed and she already has the hip flask at her lips, drinking eagerly.

Foxface observes, amused, as even with something like drinking Glimmer wants to win. As If the flask and the rum are her enemies and she is swallowing them down with such easiness and pride that, without a doubt, she triumphs over them. Maybe she's not sober, but she _wins_. Maybe with the games she thinks the same: the point is winning, not going through them completely unharmed.

Glimmer stops drinking as soon as she had begun, and handles the bottle to her again while, with the wrist of her free hand, dries unceremoniously the moisture that the rum has left. Her gestures, albeit affected by the drink, still seem to radiate some kind of pride, of strength, one that Foxface can't help but admire.

Who knew she could be so fascinating.

Just that evening she seemed so shallow, so artificial with all that Capitol make-up, push-up bras and jewels, all reinforced with the light of the stage, too bright to be natural. And now there she is, just with short jeans and a t-shirt, without make-up or jewels to mold her into something better and more beautiful. The light is more tenuous, also, like a sunset. It's now when she seems more real, more palpable, someone who she can pin down to certain attitudes and a certain way of being, someone that she can be friendly with - even familiar.

Foxface gulps. That's dangerous. Thoughts like that could lead to her downfall, she learned that long ago.

"Come on, your turn. If you see yourself able to drink, of course." Purrs Glimmer in a sarcastic attempt to tease.

"How can I prevent a hangover?" Asks Foxface, tentatively.

"Lots of water. To have enough hydration, you know. Alcohol burns your insides or something like that, I heard."

"I'm quite sure the booze is making you talk funny like this."

"I'm quite sure you're being an uptight fuck," Glimmer says the last word like she's spitting dirt "and a coward for not drinking. Do you see me dying? No. Goddamit, I'm alright, and as sexy as ever." The duckface and the sexy posture that she makes after are so obviously a mockery of sensuality that she herself laughs. Foxface can't suppress a snicker, too. She looks at the hip flask one last time, and brings it to her lips. She swallows fast, not wanting to take her time and risk to barf it.

Fuck. It burns.

She starts to cough. Glimmer just laughs more, until tears fall from her eyes.

"This thing-" another cough fit "this thing could disinfect wounds! Why do you even drink it?"

"You have to grow accustomed," The blonde teases, and then winks "and be adult enough." She laughs again, stridently, and snatches the hip flask from Foxface's grip, taking another long gulp. When she finishes, she sighs with relief.

"See? This is how it's done, kid." She starts to say something more, but from her lips, rather than a word, erupts a belch.

Foxface hears it - crude, dirty, and above all, _ugly_ \- and sees the surprised expression of Glimmer after it, of pure disbelief that she herself could have done this in front of her public.

Priceless. Pure gold.

Even If she is going to die tomorrow, that's so epic that she just has to laugh. Even as Glimmer flushes and tells her to shut up under the excuse that it will wake up her district fellows.

"I think the belch could have woken him up before my laugh attack." And more laughs, again. Glimmer is having an internal battle to not laugh herself, Foxface notes, and thinks that surely her pride would not allow her to mock herself so openly after a moment of embarrassment. Really, those career kids.

What a fool. They're all going to die tomorrow, so.

"Whatever." Protests Glimmer, drinking more so she can resist the urge to laugh, still prevalent. That probably isn't a good idea, given the fact that she could choke.

And she does.

She starts to cough frenetically, moving her feet and legs like a fish out of water, and Foxface panics instantly.

"¿Glimmer? ¡Glimmer! Oh my god, ¡Help!" She runs towards the door frenetically, but as she reaches it, she hears a laugh.

Oh, the _bitch_.

As she understands the joke, Foxface feels her breath stilling again, her heartbeat, feeling it like it was in her mouth just a moment ago, beginning to feel normal again. She can't take it, seeing someone choke again would have been too much.

"Relax, just a little joke." Says Glimmer as she screws the cap of the hip flask again. Her tone of voice shows that she is more than relaxed. Foxface faces her again.

"Look, _screw you_ and your jokes." She says, approaching to her and grabbing her by her t-shirt collar. She wants to act reasonable and cold as always, but this - this is too much. She has crossed a line. "Next time you want to have a laugh, you go to pester your career friends. Really, what do you think you're doing? You come to my room, laugh at me, bring rum, make a goddamn loud belch and pretend you choke yourself to death. I'm getting fed up with you!" She shouts with icy fury.

"Whoa... Easy there, girl." Says Glimmer. Her words are jovial, but her tone is serious now. "Look, I don't know why you took it so seriously, but I didn't want to hurt you, okay?"

"Of course not, but you did." Foxface's voice is defensive, and she turns her back to the other girl with coldness.

She expects the blonde to laugh at her, or to tell her to chill out. Maybe even storm from her room with impatience, seeing how she was so keen on privacy. Or perhaps she would call her boring again.

Either way, the sudden hug is totally unexpected. And the soft kiss on the neck too, although Foxface is 100% sure that was meant to land on the cheek, but Glimmer is drunk and sloppy and does things purely in a rush.

"Look, I'm really sorry. Do you want to talk about it?" Her voice now is honeyed, like that of a confidant, a friend. For a moment, Foxface considers telling her, dubious. She can feel vile rising in her throat because of her memories and she knows she needs to spit it out. And the moment is inviting to do so, with all that warmness in Glimmer's voice and arms, hugging her strongly, whispering sweet words to her that she knows she needs. Sweetness is an oddity in Foxface's life, more so since the games began. Besides, Glimmer is drunk and seems so harmless...

But then it hits her.

Maybe that's Glimmer's weapon: familiarity. More than charm or beauty, she can pretend to be disarmed and, instead, disarm you under the guise of a friend. The careers are no fools, but they are easy enough to befriend if you are one of them. Later, obviously, all they told you intimately could be a powerful weapon in the arena.

Maybe that's it. Maybe Glimmer is more alike to her than she had thought.

That idea excites her, makes her blood boil with something marvelous that she hadn't felt since forever. Maybe she can have a friend, someone who understands her, even in times as hard as these. It's weird, of course, but hasn't she saw thousand of cases about people who've been together and discovered they had much in common in times of need? She grabs Glimmer's hand gently at the thought, feeling strangely hopeful, so happy it's almost desperate.

"Maybe." she says, looking at Glimmer again. Her eyes are so pretty. Has somebody told her how pretty they are? She suspects that the answer is yes, but she can't know for sure - people sometimes forgets to say the obvious, even If it's also important to remember it's there from time to time - So she says it "Your eyes are lovely. Has anyone ever told you that?" And she can suppress a smile upon seeing Glimmer break eye contact while biting her lower lip, all shyness now.

Maybe they could be even more than friends, Foxface thinks as she sees Glimmer looking at her through hooded eyes, her eyelashes long and captivating. She's sure she could be able to love her, to _kill_ for her If she just-

Wait. They are going to die tomorrow.

Her hope seems to have come to a halt, and after it just starts to go down again. Like foam - It goes up and down in no time at all.

They are going to die tomorrow.

And it starts to sink even deeper in her bones that she's just fooling herself. Glimmer is unreachable. They cannot be lovers, nor friends, not even allies. Their worlds are different and the walls between them too high to be climbed. She's just dreaming again, holding onto a stupid illusion because it's all she can ever hold to.

They are going to die tomorrow. And that's the only thing they have in common.

The sweet turns sour in her mouth, the warmness suddenly transformed into cold. like that time, when she found her brother dead in a nearby alley, clothes turned into rags and tongue lolling outside his purple mouth like a dog's, coins of silver slipping out of it. She swallows. Memories again. Sometimes the justice of her kin was worse than that of the Capitol, and it hurt infinitely more.

"Hey, are you still there? Or did aliens abduct your mind?" Says Glimmer, impatience straining her voice again, although she's trying to sound comprehensive and funny. She hugs Foxface even closer, burying her face into her neck, and starts to pat her back slowly. "Look, I know it's difficult. There's so much that happens in the districts that we just can't get over. Panem is..." For a moment she turns her head up again, looking around the room warily before proceeding, her voice barely a nervous whisper "Panem is fucked up."

"Yeah. Totally fucked up." She agrees, the memories of her family bubbling with more strength. Her parents, hoping and hoping and hoping endlessly that their youngest son was going to appear sooner or later. Well, it _did_ appear. When she showed the alley where the body lay to her parents, they fell to their knees, slowly, slower than she had ever seen, and turned into a complete and silent mess. She grabbed the coins, her brother's saliva sticking to her fingers, and opened his mouth to look for more money. Instead, she felt something weird - like the leg of an insect - and pulled her hand out quickly, shrieking pathetically. She also took his jacket and shoes, as they were fine enough to be still worn.

She waited until her parents were gone to burn the body, because with them staring it was just too hard.

She refused to let Panem know about the murder. It was something personal, of her family and theirs alone. Also, If it was a secret it was harder to consider it as something real. Even as her fingers still hurt with the burns she took incinerating the boy, she couldn't wrap her head around all that just had happened. She preferred not to, it was easier that way.

She remembers being stupidly happy over the coins she had found choking her brother, as they served to feed them better. She knew it wasn't right to feel glad over something involving death, but it had been so much time since she had the luxury of eating properly.

It was fucked up. Panem had let it be this fucked up.

***

"Did you know that Marvel killed his own brother?"

"Really? I'm not buying it."

"Yes, he told me during the first year of secondary school. Made me promise I would never tell anyone." Foxface rests her head against Glimmer's shoulder. Her warmth is more than welcome in contrast with the coldness of the mattress, the strands of blonde hair that fall to her face tickling her cheeks. It's all strangely comfortable, and at the same time, she can't feel entirely right.

"Well, now you're telling." Glimmer nods slowly, wisely.

"It doesn't matter now." And Foxface understands. There's so much that doesn't matter when your life is at stake. Even then, she can't understand how someone could kill their siblings, she that had seen one die at an early age. Maybe the next time she crosses with Marvel she won't be able to look at him in the eye. And then she realizes that maybe it matters a bit.

"How about you? Got any brothers or sisters?"

"Yes, I do." Glimmer says, closing her eyes as If she wants to remember something she has long forgotten. "A sister, six years younger than me." She sighs. Her breath still smells of alcohol. "I'm like the role-model, you know?" And her laugh is dry.

"Really? I would have never imagined it." Her amusement is genuine, and as she feels Glimmer's lips against her temples she can name another feeling that is taking form inside her.

"It's weird. Not bad, but really weird. I want to be like you, sister." She says, mimicking a child's voice perfectly. "I want to braid my hair exactly like you. I... I don't know. I love her, but it's suffocating." She turns around, looking at Foxface directly in the eye. "My family pays so much attention to me that anyone outside of them is like a breath of fresh air. I love it." Foxface doesn't know what to say about that, and after an awkward moment of silence, Glimmer notices. "But enough talk about family. What about love?" She says, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. Foxface bites her lip.

"Well, I have no one I like at my district. I mean, I do find some girls attractive, but that's it." She expects the push that never comes, and all she ever receives from that confession is a look of surprise from Glimmer.

"So girls, huh? I should have supposed you were a lesbian." She comments, amused.

"Do you, um... What do you like?" Foxface feels awkward as she asks it, because it just seems stupid. Something like this is better said casually, without questions of any kind, but she has to fill the silence with something. Glimmer just winks, as If she's becoming the young seductress again.

"Whatever you want me to like." And then she laughs loudly, but the joke doesn't amuse Foxface. "Now seriously, I might be open to all the possibilities that life has to offer."

"That sounds evasive."

"Well..." Glimmer shrugged. "Sexuality is weird. Or maybe it's just mine that's this way." Then she seems to ponder some question, before asking bluntly: "Hey, have you ever kissed someone?" Foxface looks at her, an eyebrow raised.

"Are you really asking me that?" She says, laughing and blushing slightly. That was so cliché. The usual ' _Hey, since you're never been kissed, we could..._ ' that nervous boys and girls asked to their crushes. Foxface closes her eyes, wishing that they could be nervous and careless as if danger was far away. _Since we're going to die tomorrow..._

"Yeah, it's weird?" Glimmer sounds a little defensive now, as If she had been caught red-handed.

"No," Replies Foxface "I've never kissed anyone."

"Well..." The district 1 girl coughed, wriggling her hands nervously. "I did." She says, trying to smile in the same cocky way as before, and failing. Now her lips twitch a little on the corners.

"And how was it?"

"Weird. But at the same time, kind of good. Yeah, fairly good I guess." She opens the bottle again and takes a good sip. Foxface remains with her eyes closed, trying to imagine the sensation of a kiss. She remembers kisses on the cheek, soft and kind, but without any erotic feeling in them. Then she remembers Glimmer's kiss on the neck, how it sent little shivers down her spine, and for a moment she thinks she can taste desire.

Then, Glimmer's hand finds hers. Her trembling fingers stay there a while before going their way up her arm, resting on her shoulder.

"Hey..." She starts, approaching her face to hers. "Do you want to try what kissing is like?"

Ah, she can definitely taste desire now.

***

Glimmer goes out of the door way more calmed than she came in. Foxface feels herself blushing, heat crawling to her cheeks and the taste of rum and saliva still dancing in her tongue. It's weird, like Glimmer had said, but at the same time, she wants more.

_This could be the last time we see each other._

At that thought, she feels the urgency to say something important, something encouraging and worth remembering, but she can't pinpoint how she wants to say it.

"I hope tomorrow will be okay." She musters at the end, carefully choosing her words. Glimmer looks at her with bright eyes.

"I hope it will be _great_." She says. "I hope we'll survive." She leans close and kisses her lips one last time. The contact is chaste but long, the two girls still as If they want to pretend that time isn't running. She's gone before Foxface has time to open her eyes.

After that, she returns to her room again. The place seems lonely now, bigger without another person here, with only her bed with its sheets rumpled, her closet and her. She goes to take a shower and straight to bed after it.

She dreams a lot of nonsense. She can distinctly remember a handful of silver coins in her dreams.

***

Should the blood freak her out? Weirdly, it doesn't. The knives yes, but not the blood.

Glimmer makes red spurt from everywhere. She stabs a body after another with cold precision, her hands red with blood, her knife a dangerous shadow. She's not beautiful, she's utterly terrifying. Her smile and vicious laugh make it seem like she is enjoying terribly every kill, and Foxface looks away while the girl grabs a knife and cuts through the stomach of a boy - she doesn't know of what district - gutting him like a fish while he screams, eyes wide and teary in horror. Glimmer laughs louder at that, cruel and terrible like a monster from a nightmare.

Foxface runs into the forest, hating all of what is happening there. The career's laughs echo through the forest like the sound of cracked branches, and their knives and spears seem to reach everywhere. Foxface feels desperation starting to tire her, weighting in her shoulders and feet. ¿What if she can never outrun the fierce attacks of the careers? ¿Will she ever be far enough to dodge their weapons? As she wonders, she feels how her legs begin to ache, and she feels tempted to stop and scream until they find and kill her, leaving her body still among all that mayhem.

 _Run, fuck_ , a encouraging voice whispers inside her head, _you are not dying here_.

And she obeys and runs faster, the trees and grass looking like a blur around her. When she's too tired to continue, she walks towards a nearby tree and notices that she's hyperventilating. She puts her hands around her mouth, trying to steady her breathing.

This is it. The games.

 _Come on, girl_ she thinks _it's time to begin_. As she walks, she takes a look at her surroundings: a seemingly endless forest of tall trees, their branches low enough for her to climb to the top of a few. Crap, she was never a good climber, but being on the floor that night is definitely not an option. _If you don't know how to do something, you'll have to learn it or suffer the consequences_ , said her mentor. Well, If she has to climb, she has to climb. After all, what's the worst that can happen? Oh, yeah, she could fall and split her skull, or be killed by the careers in her sleep If she stays on the ground. Well, better to die than be to killed. If she falls, they will remove her corpse from the arena and that will be it. Maybe it will be boring and a little ridiculous, but it will not be a sadistic and cruel death, not like being gutted - probably with Glimmer watching. Probably with her parents biting their nails in front of the television, crying and looking at how she agonizes and bleeds until she lets out her final breath. They would probably remember her brother and do something crazy and stupid.

Glimmer - why did she think of her first? That annoys her. Her parents are more important by far. She would have liked to think about them first, about the people from home, about the place where she belongs. But this is the arena, and everything here is reduced to life and death. Glimmer can kill her, and therefore, Glimmer is more important - even If it's for worse. Because she knows, after seeing her stab that boy, that an intimate moment the night before will not stop her. She's definitely not joking about winning.

She decides to stay reasonably near the career's camp. A walk of two hours or so, probably, in a well-hidden place with trees of dense foliage. She plans to begin with them, as their camp is the more obvious and the one that has more supplies by far. She plans to spy on every camp before forming a solid strategy, and then she will start to steal from the ones that are more available and have more supplies that interest her.

When the sun begins to set she climbs up a sturdy oak as fast as she can, almost falling twice, but managing to find a nice place between the middle branches. She doesn't want to climb too high, who knows If there's any dangerous animal that she can't spot from here. Besides, she's not sure she could go down afterwards. She sits, back against the trunk, and decides to take a look at her supplies. In the brown bag she finds a loaf of bread, a bag of walnuts and peanuts, five apples, an orange and a bottle of water. There's also a blanket, a set of weird belts and a pocket knife, a useful tool and the closest thing to a weapon that she has got.

Fine enough, although she wanted to have iodine instead of actual water. Well, she'll have to endure with that at the moment. She examines the belts until she knows their function and how to use them - they will be useful, as she won't fall from the tree with them around. They provide a nice distraction while the mystery of their use lasts, but after it, the anxiety of surviving returns to her. She eats an apple, some bread and a handful of peanuts. She keeps the shells in the bag, as they could give away her location If she's too careless with them.

The anthem plays and the faces of the dead ones begin to show. A career has fallen, what a surprise. The others are mostly minor tributes, districts that usually fall early. Her district fellow, too. She almost feels grateful that it's not her. She finds it weird than the boy from district 3 is not dead - she remembers seeing how he was pinned down by Cato. Maybe he got away? Unlikely. She feels curiosity, but the only hopes about knowing his fate is talking to Glimmer, which is not an option. The tributes from 11 and 12 have luck this year, although with the training scores they had it's no wonder they still live.

Before the day ends, she decides that tomorrow she will try to find out who has iodine. She covers herself with the blanket, secures the set of belts and tries to sleep. The wool itches against her neck, her arms feel cold and the buzz of the mosquitoes around her is unnerving, but she's asleep in a matter of minutes.

***

She gasps at the feeling of the knife blade against her neck, waking up instantly.

"Hello there, sweetling." Greets Glimmer mockingly, smiling as If she's not about to cut her throat. She's straddling her, grabbing Foxface's shoulder firmly with her free hand.

Foxface holds her breath - _shit, shit, shit, shit_. Maybe she can push her and kill her If she's fast enough, or maybe Glimmer will have luck and the fall will do nothing to her, Foxface has seen this happen, people falling right from high trees and just scratching their knees. And who knows? These people are monsters who stab and kill without mercy, it would be no wonder If they survived after that. If Glimmer had luck, she would be up there in no time again and -

"Hey, you look as If you've seen a ghost. Are you alright?" Says the career, almost sounding bored, playing with the hilt of her knife, which is still too close to her skin for Foxface's comfort. She still can feel the sensation of the cold blade against her neck, knowing that it's too sharp, that with the right pressure...

_No, don't think about the gutted boy again._

"Hardly." she says at last. "You keep that knife against my throat." Glimmer puts it in her belt, calm as ever.

"Shit, did you knew that they took my ring? The gamemakers are a bunch of motherfuckers."

"Did you come just to talk about that?"

"No, I bought you another present." she whispers. "Everyone's asleep at the camp, and the bombs were not that difficult to..." Then, she realizes that she's talking too much and goes silent.

"Bombs?" Foxface ask, baffled.

"Nevermind." Glimmer is eager to leave that behind. "It's not alcohol this time." She laughs, amused at her own joke, while she takes something from her pocket. "¡Ta da!" There is a bottle of iodine in her hand, and a little package of dried meat. "I figured you would need that." She puts them both inside Foxface's bag, acting like it's her goddamn bag, as she did when she entered her room.

"I'm afraid you're insanely overconfident." Foxface lets out, her voice sleepy. "What If I don't actually want them?"

"But you do, don't you?" Glimmer seems weirdly indifferent. "You know, it's the last mercy I can give to you in this place."

"You can always spare me."

"Yeah, like they would let me." Glimmer says, looking at her like she's an idiot. This conversation makes Foxface slightly dizzy. She tries to concentrate on the feeling of the back of the trunk against her, its bark rough and porous, and in the smell of leaves and pine needles in the air. The mosquitoes seem to have fallen silent, but an owl hoots in the distance.

"You seemed to be in control of who you killed there." She musters, feeling it turned out more bitter than she intended it to.

"I had to do it."

"You also had to enjoy yourself while doing so?" Asks Foxface, sarcastically.

"You're trying to say that I'm a sadistic bitch?" Glimmer counters, lowering her face towards her. She smells of blood and sweat, even when her body is comfortably warm, just like yesterday. She wants to say something, Foxface can see that, but she's stumbling to find the right words "I didn't." She says at last. It sounds too much like she's trying to convince herself. Foxface hates it, hates her for it. "You don't understand because you're not a career. But your priorities change, once here in the arena. Be grateful I didn't search for you to kill you." _She's making this even worse. Why doesn't she just stop talking? I want her to leave already._

Foxface wants to say 'What happened to you?' or 'You've changed' or 'Yesterday you were so different, where is that Glimmer? I miss her, it was the only thing close to someone I cared that I had in the Hunger games' but she can't. It would only make her look weak. And besides, she doesn't know Glimmer that well. Maybe that night was all pretense and the one that's now there is the real her. She can't possibly know, but there's something that she can do.

"You're horrible." Make her part of her game, tangle her in the threads of her strategy. Glimmer frowns and smiles, in a way where it's impossible to tell If she's angry or sad.

"If this helps me survive, I will be. And not just horrible. I'll be a murderer, I'll be whatever it takes until I'm the last one standing." Her eyes are determined, her voice firm and menacing. She's right, priorities change in the arena. And not only hers.

"Okay, then go stand all you like in another place, not in my place." Glimmer seems angry at that. "Oh, and I don't want this." She says, giving her the package of dried meat and the bottle of iodine. The career girl seems more offended than ever, her brow furrowed so hard that Foxface can almost see a vein pounding furiously under it.

"Well, your loss." She spits dryly, before climbing down the truck. "It's a pity you don't want my generous offerings. By the way, you should sleep in a higher tree. I could reach your place here, and I don't climb very high." She shouts from the ground. "Oh, and one last thing. I'll still have one last mercy with you. I won't speak to the rest of the careers about you, I'll do my best to make them go for another tribute. Good night, dearie!" She says, blowing a kiss mockingly before starting to make her way to the career's camp, kicking grass angrily from time to time.

 _She's furious, which means that she won't be so focused on her surroundings. Besides, it's the dead of the night and everyone sleeps, and the only person that doesn't is the one she just left behind. Good, good._ Foxface undoes the set of belts, grabs her blanket and puts both on her bag.

She tries to go down as silently as she can, and after that, she takes off her boots and follows Glimmer. It's not easy, as her feet are not that used to going barefoot. Luckily, the little branches, nuts and roots are not that painful to step over. She's grateful that the floor of the arena isn't full of sharp stones.

Glimmer hears her from time to time and goes quiet, reaching for her knife. But after moments of silence, she usually follows her path. Foxface can't believe her own luck.

When they reach the camp, Foxface hides behind nearby bushes to have a better look at what's about to happen. She's a little nervous and she wants to leave soon. Clove is sleeping just feet away from her, her hand grabbing a knife even in dreams. She looks relaxed and harmless, but she'll probably stab everyone that tries to wake her up within a two meter radio. There's also the boy from twelve there, and the one from three. Did they join the careers? How weird. _Crap, I should have asked Glimmer about that._

The blonde is silent now, not wanting to wake up her fellow careers. She looks at the pile of supplies they have warily, and goes near it as If she's probing some sort of reaction. The way they have everything remembers Foxface of a totem, something they adore and rely their survival upon in a pile up towards the night sky.

Then, Glimmer starts to jump. First with one leg, then with the other. _What the hell is she doing? Oh, wait. Bombs_.

So that's how they plan to keep the other tributes at bay. She watches intently at how she moves to leave the package and the bottle on the pile again, planning to follow her steps once they're all out hunting.

_What an idiot. She could have just left it in her bag. Although maybe the careers have every single item counted and she'll be in trouble if she doesn't return it. It wouldn't be weird, after all._

Glimmer goes to sleep then, and she returns to her tree to do the same. It's almost morning and she has few hours of sleep left. _Thanks to Glimmer, of course_.

Well, at least she got the information she needed. She smiles: it seems that the games will be easier than she had expected.

***

She wakes up with a metallic flavor in her mouth. She dreamed about those goddamned coins again, falling into her open mouth and down her throat and choking her under their weight. Foxface moves faster than she should trying to get up, and even with the belts she almost falls to the ground. She can feel the cold sweat running through her back.

With the back of her hand she wipes her forehead, leaving it sticky with sweat, and goes to grab something for breakfast. Dawn has passed already, but it can't be later than nine AM. She remembers when her parents went to the energy factory early in the morning, with their tired expressions and dark bags under their eyes. They were pale as ghosts before going to work, silent and devoid of any sign of vitality. Foxface looked at them with wondering eyes, eating her toast slowly. "Is working really so hard?" She asked her mother once. She only smiled at her wearily, not wanting to discourage her daughter from the life that awaited her If she reached eighteen years at district 5, and replied that it depended. "We're so tired of it because we have been on the job for many years" she added later, noticing how her daughter's eyes narrowed with incredulity. Her mother was sugarcoating reality half of the time, and they both knew it, but she felt it was necessary. How was she going to tell to her dear daughter about the life of misery that awaited her? She had been shown things as they were as a kid, and it didn't make reality any easier, just more agonizing the wait towards adulthood. She wanted her daughter to have some hope, to be able to treasure some dreams of her own, but the girl was too clever for such things.

Not that Foxface understood that. For her, it was like her mother still treated her like a child that needed to be protected. She saw that life was not a fairytale, and how would she be able to protect herself from its harshness if she was just sheltered from it? She didn't want to hide from the horrors of their district, she wanted to look at them thoroughly and find ways around them.

It was then when she began with her walks.

She started to go to some factories, just passing by without any fuss. Watching, always watching with eyes hungry for truth. She will never forget the screams, the three light bulbs on every machine that turned on every time that work was done right, and went off when the work was insufficient. The stripes of red that fiercely marked backs and shoulders with crimson when the latter happened made her own blood freeze.

It was horrible how something like that was permitted, seen as something normal that just happened. She didn't see herself living as part of that world, didn't see herself bowing to bosses and agents of peace and black lashes stained with dried blood before being hit by them.

Nor did she saw herself going to the Hunger Games, but there she is. She doesn't know which fate is better. _Well, at least here my death will be quick._

Yeah, maybe it was preferable to die quickly, just a minute, an hour or a day of agony, instead of dying a little every day inside factories run by fear and menacing figures. _But it's still dying. And I don't want to die._

That thought bit deep inside her spirits.

 _I don't want to die_ , she thought again. _And I don't have to_.

Yeah, she still has chances if she's willing to go through all this horror. She remembers that maybe, If she plays her cards right, she could live as an unnoticed victor, too boring and quiet to even serve to the fun-starved public to be devoured. She would be nothing to those scavengers, not like Finnick Odair, not like Glimmer or Katniss, just raw bone to toss unceremoniously aside in hopes of a more interesting, delighting victor next time.

And she could just forget fear and wounds, the blood of the arena a thing of the past and the threat of the factory turned into something vacuous, and live quietly like she always wanted. Maybe she could study more than she did at school, have a look at the science and secrets of all the other districts, or pick up some hobby. Maybe she could learn to play the piano or the violin. Maybe she could try to be a scientist or an inventor... The possibilities were infinite.

Feeling encouraged by the idea of freedom that has just sprung in her mind, she goes to grab an apple and gives a big bite to it, her energies renewed. She finishes it soon, aching to grab another, but she has to be careful in case her plan backfires.

 _Maybe it's time I went to pay a visit to the career's camp_ , she thinks, smiling with anticipated mischief. _Oh yes I will, and when I return here I'll serve myself a feast fit for a queen_.

Idle thinking; she knows perfectly that precaution's her better asset for now, aside from her wits, so she'll have to wait longer to eat all that she wants to. But after the games she fantasizes about serving herself a feast at her district floor, eating roasted chicken, sushi, cinnamon rolls, strawberry cakes... Yes, all that she wants. She can practically smell the scent of each food, feel their taste in her tongue like the first time she tried them at the capitol-

 _Stop it, idiot_ , she thinks, snapping out of her mental delights. _You don't need to make this games more difficult for yourself_.

Even so, the thoughts about food don't quite leave her. She decides to focus on her surroundings in an attempt to forget them, but they still linger in her mind.

 _Think about the gutted boy, think about the gutted boy..._ She urges herself to do. Two seconds of marred flesh and blood on her mind do the trick, and she feels her imagination calm down with the food imagery.

As she reaches the career's camp, she starts to focus like crazy on everything around her in fear of bumping on the careers right there, as it wouldn't be weird for them to be nearby. Maybe hunting, which would be unfortunate at least. She feels her body tensing, ready to run towards the opposite direction as soon as she sees something suspicious.

After making sure they're not there she lets out a heavy sigh, hides behind some bushes and looks around their camp, finding it completely deserted. They must be out hunting, as she thought, but that isn't the only thing that she notices.

 _Ugh, this bushes smell terrible. Just like... Wait, is this smell piss?!_ The thought makes her jump out of them instantly, falling forward and towards the floor awkwardly. _Of course, this just **has** to happen to me, doesn't it? Well, fuck my luck._

From now on, she'll keep in mind that those bushes are the career's private toilet, and so, she never should go into them, least she wants to find worse... Surprises.

She goes towards the pile of supplies cautiously, not wanting to activate the bombs with rough movements, and looks at the floor. The grass is more stomped over in certain points, and they made a little line on the ground, probably with the tip of a boot, to mark where the circuit begins. She has to repress the urge to crackle hysterically.

_Oh, this is just great. On second thought, love my luck, really. Even if it involves getting into places full of piss._

She remembers the weird dance that made Glimmer to cross the path, and she decides to mimic it in order to have better balance of step. When she's in front of the pile, she examines it thoroughly, until she finds some tomatoes and carrots. She doesn't steal that much as she doesn't want them to find out, obviously. But there's a temptation that she can't resist. Before her, are the package of dried meat and the bottle of iodine that Glimmer had offered to her earlier. There's a lot of other packages and bottles, so it's not like they're going to miss them unless they count them. But Glimmer could notice, she thinks, although how would she justify their absence? She would figure out it was her, but she would have a hard time explaining that Foxface learned about the bombs and circuit thanks to her. If she was clever, she would remain silent.

"Thank you for the gift, even If it isn't alcohol this time." She chuckles, grabbing them both and making the weird dance again to get out of there. She made it, she made it. She feels so ecstatic and exhilarated that she wants to cry and jump and barf at the same time, and it's all a little ridiculous, but at the same time it's not funny because, she remembers, she could die.

 _But If the rest of the games are going to be like this_ , she thinks, _they'll be a piece of cake_.


End file.
